Barcelona - day 2 - old town

On our second day in Barcelona we did some serious sightseeing. We walked and walked around the old town, the port, the central boulevard of Las Ramblas... none of which were too crowded but I could imagine a sticky summer day spent bumping against tourist bodies. It's a city worth seeing.
Here are some highlights:

La Boqueria is a covered market that's been operating for hundreds of years. Markets are another thing that I love to visit and Brian doesn't care so much about. This one was pretty cool, though. You can by fancy Spanish hams and fresh juices and empanadas and tripe (nicer word for guts) and lambs with no skin but eyeballs intact.

La Seu Cathedral is a huge gothic church in the historic area of Barcelona. While Santa Maria del Mar was beautiful, La Seu was impressive, imposing even. The arched ceilings were so high and the side altars so ornate that I remembered how cathedrals are (or were) more about showing off than about faith. Right under the altar is the tomb of St. Eulalia, Barcelona's patron saint.

Near the port we tried to go to the Maritime Museum, which is housed in the shipyards where the Armada was built during the Middle Ages. Unfortunately, it was closed for rennovation. So instead we looked at the memorial commemorating Columbus and his conquests, pondering whether anyone in Barcelona wonders whether Columbus deserves a memorial. The statue of the Spanish priest showing a humble naked savage the way was particularly interesting. Then we sat by the water watching boats come in and soaking up the sunshine.

We walked to the point of exhaustion, hunger, and related crankiness (me, not Brian), then stopped for eats and drinks and collapsed back at the hotel.

Barcelona - day 1 - flying oranges

Our first stop in Barcelona was the Carnaval parade. Brian is not a parade guy, or a state fair guy, or a street festival guy, but I love all of those things and he loves me. So to the parade we went. We found the main stage near the old town in Barcelona, surrounded by kids and adults in costume where a band was playing and also announcing what was going to happen. I have no idea what they said because it was in Catalan (which is not really like Spanish at all) but what I gathered was that there would be a parade of all the Carnaval princes and princesses, followed by the arrival of the king. The royalty started to roll in, riding on horse drawn carriages and a decked out in a signature color of the rainbow. They had personalities too. Some were serene and sweet, some were dancing and celebrating, others were nasty and making scary faces. The king himself looked more leering and creepy than regal, and arrived just as it was getting dark. Once his carriage was in, huge orange balloons and confetti fell over the crowd. This part is called (in Spanish) La Naranjada, in honor of the medieval tradition of throwing oranges at people during on the Sunday of Carnaval. I guess balloons don't hurt as much. This all leads up to Ash Wednesday, when, of course, they bury the sardine.

After the parade we wandered around the historic Born neighborhood, stopped at Santa Maria del Mar basilica, and wrapped up the evening with some tapas. We did not order any sardines.

Santa Maria del Mar

I'm back!

In case you haven't given up on me in the last two weeks, I am back with plenty to write about the Carnaval parade and a ridiculous night club in Girona, biking over a mountain (and back) in Girona, and rolling balls through the mud in Hannover. Stay tuned - there are plenty of posts to come.

Off to Barcelona

Brian and I are heading off to Barcelona today, and off the grid for a little while. Even though I'll be internet free, I will make sure to take a few notes and a lot of photos so I can tell you all about it when I get back next weekend.

Cookie monster update

The cookie has been returned.

On Monday, another note appeared at the newspaper offices. Like the first, it was written in letters cut out from magazines. It said that the cookie monster (I refuse to capitalize his name - he's a skinny impostor) planned to return the golden cookie. His reasoning is as follows:

“Because Werni, like me, so loves the cookie, and is now always crying and misses the cookie so much, I'm giving it back.”
Werni is Werner Bahlsen, the CEO of the company and board chair of the International School, who is probably not used to being called Werni in the news media.

The cookie showed up the next morning, lying on a statue of a horse outside of Leibniz University in Hannover, wrapped in a red ribbon.

So now Bahlsen will donate thousands of boxes of cookies to local organizations, and the cookie monster will be a fugitive from the law. The people of Hannover are probably a little disappointed that the drama is over, or at least we think so. I hear the Count might be up to no good in Hamburg.

Wind socks, tetris, and antlers

Put on your pith helmets, the photo safari continues.

At Aegidientorplatz, one of the busiest intersections in town and one that's hard to avoid when heading into town from our place, you'll see this work of art in the median:

It's a series of spotted poles topped with stiff sort of wind socks that rotate in the breeze. I would assume the wind socks were white at one time but now they are a dingy grayish brown, probably because of the auto exhaust. The poles look like their white paint has been strategically chipped off in places, reminding me of a dairy cow's spots. I like there's not just concrete in the middle of the road, and that it's a work of art that moves, but it just doesn't move me.

Neither does this one, also at Aegidientorplatz, near the tram station:

Maybe it's supposed to be a gateway or an entrance. After all, the ancient city wall was near this spot.
To me it looks ike someone was playing a giant game of Tetris and lost a couple of pieces along the way. But this one I do really like:

Man with Deer by Stephan Balkenhol

 

 

 

On the pedestrian shopping street, right by the department stores and the kebab shops, stands a buck with a man sitting on his antlers. I like how fragile he seems, cradled in this huge animal's headgear. I like the urban-ness of his business attire against the wild-ness of the bucks's fur. I also wonder how it would feel to take a ride around Hannover like that.

Plus, when you are on a safari, it's good to see the wildlife.

C is for Cookie

A crime was committed in Hannover recently. I promise we'll get back to the photo safari soon, but I could not pass this one up.
Somebody stole the golden cookie.

The golden cookie was part of the facade at the headquarters of the Bahlsen cookie company.
Bahlsen has been making cookies since 1889. They even kept making cookies, along with emergency rations, during World War II. Now Bahlsen is an international company, still based in Hannover. It's CEO, Warner Bahlsen, is also the chairman of the board of the International School.

The Bahlsen offices*

On the facade of the Bahlsen building in Hannover is a sculpture of two men carrying a big pretzel with a Leibniz cake hanging inside it. The sculpture is over 100 years old and hangs high above the street.

*I stole the photo on the left from my friend Kaska's blog. She also wrote about this story but tells it in photos.


I should take a moment to tell you that German cookies (keks) are, well, not like American ones. The most famous ones, Leibniz cakes, are like butter cookies or shortbread. Most of their cookies are sort-of Leibniz Keks-based, but in different shapes and with different flavors. They are not bad, but they are no chocolate chip, macadamia, oatmeal-raisin, butterscotch or thin-mint. Most of the cookies we eat come from my oven. German desserts are generally good, but the cakes are drier than what I'm used to and everything is a little less gooey. They compensate, however, in chocolates and gummi candies of all kinds.

Before and after

Anyway, here is how the great cookie caper is unfolding:
About a week ago, the golden cookie, weighing 20 kilos, went missing. Bahlsen offered 1,000 euros as a reward for whoever could find and return it. On Tuesday, the Hannover Allgemeine Zeitung, the main newspaper in town, received a ransom note. The note demanded that if Bahlsen ever wanted its cookie back, it would have to donate the 1,000 euros to Hannover's animal shelter and cookies to all the patients at the local children's hospital. And not just the Leibniz cakes. The cookie-napper asked specifically for ones with milk chocolate on the back side.

And the culprit? Cookie Monster himself, or more likely his impostor (he's called the Krumel Monster in German). His photo with the golden cookie appeared on the ransom note, though he's looking a little thin and not furry enough to be the real thing... In the letter, the thief threatens to throw the golden cookie in the trash with Oscar the Grouch if his demands are not met.

Photo of the ransom note

Rough translation of the note (no, I didn't translate it myself):
To the cookie-less:
I have the cookie! You want to have it, and therefore on a day in February you will want to give all the children in the Bult Hospital cookies (as a gift). But they have to be those with milk chocolate in them, not those with dark chocolate, and not the ones without chocolate. And a golden cookie for the children in the cancer ward. Otherwise this won’t happen. Furthermore, you will want to give the 1,000 Euro reward to the animal shelter in Langenhagen. Then hopefully you’ll have the cookie. This is dear to me and therefore you will want to be really generous. Truly this is serious! Otherwise: the cookie will come to Oscar (the Grouch) in the garbage can. Really!!! When you’ve done all of this, I will write another letter that tells you where the biscuit is.
Cookie Monster

Bahlsen has agreed to the cookie monster's demands, and has topped them. The company has agreed to also donate 52,000 boxes of cookies to 52 local charities if and when the golden cookie is returned.

The real cookie monster has since replied on Sesame Street's twitter account. He tweeted (of course he tweets, why wouldn't he? Though it must be tough to type with those 4 furry blue fingers):
“Me no steal the golden cookie, but me willing to help find real cookie thief!”

The incident has made international news and is a great, accidental, marketing opportunity for Bahlsen. However, what will the 52 local organizations do with 1,000 boxes of cookies each? That's a lot of snacks for the break room. How about Bahlsen donates money to them instead??

Is this a crime? yes. Extortion? I guess so. It's pretty funny though. Could an international school student be involved? Possible but not likely.
If this is the biggest crime to make the news in Hannover, I guess we are doing ok. A scarier prospect is the possibility that my stash of chocolate chips will run out before I get back to the U.S. to buy more.